Some sweet things in the mail.....

I didn't post my Sweet Sunday on Ye Olde Crones Gazette this week because......I was out of sorts, out of electricity and out of my mind with a headache from the wind. I know everywhere has had icky wind storms. We in New Mexico are used to the wind but once again scary winds are not my thing. We watched the sky turn strange colors, experienced hail, had neighborhood trees topple onto "things" like other houses, cars, etc. and more than the neighboring states blew through yesterday. I think I saw part of Guam blow by around 2:15.pm. Planes were rerouted or canceled. It was u-g-l-y.

But earlier in the week, I had some very nice pressies come in the mail. My buddy Stacey sent my sweet daughter a very dear Magic Love Crow painting as well as some cards and ACEO prints. She kinda finagled somethings around so I can't show you what we got....but it is such a dear thought and gift. Shelley cried and was so surprised. Thank you my sweet friend for being part of our family.

Jan from Laughing Dog Arts as become a such a delight to me. I love her blog, her art and her heart. She is the person who introduced me to Craft it Forward and I received the most precious bound book from her. The tiny, precious book is filled with all kinds of sweet cards, inserts and is so dear. She also shared with me some empty thread cones that I will use in an upcoming project with mermaids and donkey heads. Thank you Jan for making an Olde Bagg very happy and don't be too surprised if I take you up on your offer of calling you up for a chat some time soon.

And then there is my Olde Soul Sister.....the lovely and talented Ms. Maddyrose from Santa and the Mrs. Without knowing it Ms. Maddy has given me a life line that I so desperately needed. She is safe harbor on a daily basis. She makes me laugh, she understands my mean old broad ways and makes it feel like it's okay to be me. And on top of all that love, she sends me a herd of spring animals, chicken with a bonnet. sitting and standing rabbits and a bunny with a carrot that tickles my funny bone. I made a special trip to my favorite repurpose store to find an appropriate basket for said herd. They are right at home on the dining room table along with the other spring decos.

And I have a fourth goody to share. Ms. Georgina from La Llorna Arts and her hubster Vern are going to be in 'Burque this weekend. After being friends online for a good long time and only living a few hours apart, we are finally going to get to meet eyeball to eyeball over breakfast on Saturday. The Range cafe will never be the same. I'm looking forward to this very much. I'll let ya know the inside scoop next week.

I hope your week goes well and that you'll excuse me for not being around much this week. I have lots of spring cleaning to accomplish and have promised myself to "git er dun".

Hawt is in the eye of the beholder, er something like that

On my Pinterest account, otherwise known as the new way to lose time, I have a board called "beautious boys". I have had a few questions as to why an old bird like me would have pictures of hawt guys on my account along with all the red and white polka dot dishes, dresses and shoes in the word, every darling picture of a donkey I can find, seasonal make ums and my Mexicana roots trivia. Well there are several ways to answer that question.....first I am not dead, nothing like a view of a hotty to make an old gal smile, second; Why not? I have an appreciation for beauty of the male gender and third; GK.

Several weeks ago, one of GK's classmates told her she was hawt. It kinda freaked her out )me too). Then she thought it was pretty cool that someone thought she was pretty. Whoa says I..........let's get this thing in perspective here girlie, girl. There's hot and there's hawt. And then there is Hawt and then there is pretty, they are not necessarily the same thing. And we had a long talk about cat calls, whistles and non respectful jeers and taunts. And after me going to the North Pole for ice when all she was needing was an ice cube from the refrigerator (cuz I tend to go the long way around on an explanation).......she said "who do you think is hawt, Oma?"

I decided I needed to figure that one out and share my findings with her. So I began with who I think is the sexiest man alive ever, Sam Elliott (the voice). If you are under 40, you would recognize his voice on lots of commercials (Chevy) and was the sky pilot in Golden Chariot.  Blake Shelton (The Voice), Sean Connery (the only real 007), Tom Selleck (Magnum PI, currently Blue Bloods)  Michael Wetherly (DiNozzo on NCIS), Trace Adkins (Badonkadonk) and Mark Harmon (Gibbs), to name a few. Here's a fun one for you. When I showed Sweet Man my list, he wanted to know why I didn't have a picture of him to let the world see his gorgeousness. I soothed his ego by telling him that I was willing to share only some parts of my life with the world. He was mine and I couldn't just share the good stuff like that. He was so tickled, he laughed in a way he hasn't for a long while. I need to tell him more often how beautious he is.

When I told GK the names she was puzzled by some and a little put off by others. How could I think they were hot. Now grated my dears, many of them have some mileage on them but really? To me at my age, some of the others I have on my list are almost too young for me to be comfortable having them on the list (Adam Levine, Jake Owen, etc), just babies, while to GK they are some that are grandpas. Funny thing age perspective.

The first photo below of Mark Harmon is when he was pre ER age. Really young, very handsome and hunky. GK says, hey who's this one, with a smile in which I saw some Hawtness noted. I said, oh that's Mark Harmon. She said who?????? I said, Gibbs from NCIS. And then this pallor of OMG washed over her sweet 11 year old face and she said, as she blushed, Oma, wait!!!! This is way too much to take in......Gibbs was HAWT!!!

I laughed until I hurt. She said it's gonna be hard to watch NCIS now. Tee Hee.

Like you need another weather report.....part 2

Thanks for all of your comments about yesterdays post.

I wanted to share with you what has happened since then because I think it is fandamtastic.

Yesterday was the first day of Spring break and the grands and I had a shopping trip planned to the "other" big box store (the orange one), to see the plants and pots. Ry wanted to pick out some seeds just for him and so then did GK. He got snapdragons, she, chinese lanterns, me blue bachelor buttons. As we walked along the rows of plants, they recited what they have heard in their young lives about the plants they recognized and asked about others they didn't. Ry read us the "needs" of the plants, light, water etc. says it was his job. We were loooking for a pussy willow plant and also for a white peach tree....found neither but we're hopeful.

As we were on our way to surprise Mommy by showing up for lunch where she works, the grands played questions about what they had just seen.....hmmmmmmm influence seen huh?

After eating, GK went to see her friends in the back of the restaurant, (the owners kids). Ry and I sat and finished eating. I turned to Ry and started interviewing him as though I had never met him. What's your name little boy? He looked at me with a sparkle and said, oh Oma, you know who I am. I said yes, but let's play like I don't.

After a few minutes I realized that there are some things about himself and the world he lives in which he is not well versed. So when GK joined us, Ry interviewed her, (but had to ask me for the answers if she didn't know). I had no idea that they would play this interview game, along with Mommy and me for 2 hours. They loved it. They learned new things about family, New Mexico, the universe, how they were as babies, and much more. The funniest one was when I asked GK what SM's mother's name was. Ry said, he had a mom? Uhhhhhh yeah and whose fault is it that they don't know all that? Ours, the grown ups. So......new game, new information.

It was too much fun.

Like you need another weather report.....

We all compare the weather on the blogopshere huh? Especially at this time of year when we are all anxious for spring to come and winter to go far, far away.

Yesterday morning, Sweet Man had to be to work at 5:40....or 4:40 old time. Through bleary eyes, (I don't do early morning well) I saw snow on the cars. I was at the window to wave goodbye to SM and there he was brushing snow off of the windshield. By yesterday afternoon, while the grands and I messed around outside, the temp was 71 degrees.

Yep, I'd say spring is peeking around the corner. So to test the theory, we went to the back yard to look for burrow holes. Sure enough, the turtles have come up to the top of the soil to check out the situation and the top of their burrows have opened. I've had turtles out in the snow stomping around in April so this is quite within the norm. I love spring but I also hate spring here. Great excitement for new growth, pretty flowers but on the other side....icky allergies. This whole love/hate thing brought up a very lively discussion. We played the good and bad game about the season.

Let me interrupt myself to tell you that I know I am an extremist. I know I belabor the balance in life. I know that I try to see both sides and view the other side of my point of view. I should have been born a Libra....instead I am just married to one. That is not to say that my views sometimes become concrete and not flowing but that is usually attacked to a love of someone or something that slants the results of the good and bad game.

Anyway the kiddos took opposite points of view in the game. We listed goods and bads of spring. The rules are pretty simple, no one is wrong, everyone can say what they believe to be true, everyone has to take responsibility for their opinion.

I was surprised at some of their answers and opinions but then that is part of the fun. I used to use this technique in working with kids in school and in youth groups. For those who are still open to seeing the other side of a situation it is an excellent way to inform. For those who are already concrete in their opinion, it is not always an exercise in futility but rather lets them know where they stand with respect to their peers in their opinion. And everyone learns something that they didn't know before.....even if it is a little tiny factoid. The review of the game is the most fun. We pick by popular vote what we think is the one good and the one bad that is the best.

For instance, I learned yesterday that without the wind, I couldn't enjoy the feeling of knowing what the air "feels" like. And also what the temperature of the direction from whence the wind came is. That was the good. I also learned that not all the growth in spring is of "good" plants but each of them has the right to start to grow, because that's what happens. That was the bad. Okay, it isn't going to change the world or win a noble peace prize but we actually discussed what we thought we knew not only about Spring but about what we felt about Spring.

Anytime we engage in discussion is a great time as far as I am concerned so......the outlook here at the Casa is sunny with a chance of growth.

I tend not to be a joiner but...........

If you have not heard of Invisible Children then I need to share this with you. If you have....then good for you and I hope you were moved to action.

I am going to direct you to a 30 minute youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc that I hope you will take the time to watch. There is such a terrible horror (one of many in this world) that you and I can make a difference in solving. I watched the video with my granddaughter and daughter. There are three generations of women in my house who don't want to know of another Ugandan or any other nationality child abducted to be a child soldier for a warlord, or made into a sex slave, or watch their entire family or village slaughtered or worse be made to do the killing themselves in order to save their lives. If this was happening here in New Mexico, or Iowa the world would know about it.

The idea is to make this terrible warlord Joseph KONY who is a guilty of war crimes as famous and as we can. To make so many people around the globe aware of  who he is and what he has done, it will be impossible for anyone worldwide to ignore this hellaciousness to continue.

Ya think??????

Bad taste is simply saying the truth before it should be said. - - Mel Brooks

Much ado about nothing is something I ascribe to. Why not? Everyone else does. They just call it by different names;, getting mad, pissed off, concerned for the welfare of others, righteously indignant, socially offended, high minded, emotionally harmed, morally irresponsible.......yeah, yeah.

Someone says or does something you don't like and you gripe, bitch, moan, complain, harp or rant about it. And when the sand settles over the mesa, feathers are all unruffled, and feelers are no longer hurt or worse when the topic is no longer of importance to anyone, the ado in fact is nothing. Here's the quarter, go make your one phone call......to someone who cares.

I am guilty as anyone of spewing about something that holds import for me in my little world that affects me and that's the name of that tune. And I always appreciate the onlookers yelling, "go get um". But truth is.....it all falls back into the same shitee pile and until it raises a "stink" again.....nobody cares.

That being said I also have to say, when it is your problem, no one else feels it like you do. They can commiserate, and try to soothe and that is what friends are for....to love you through what hurts you and try to help you. I find that that is really the truth of life. We hurt, we share, we suffer, we heal, we use that knowledge in a positive way to help someone else and in so doing move on. So the good news it's working here at Casa de Cuckoo in both directions. We love and are loved.


But heads up or duck to those that need that advice.

Spring break is almost upon us........

Yesterday, the grands and I were out.....spring shopping while Momma took care of an auto dilemma. I can't say that I envied her job because the said vehicle stalled out, yet again, on the way to be repaired and she had to chill her jets on the side of the a very busy cross town road. While the grands and I were poking and looking and finding all manner of good stuff for the great out of doors.

We went to a big box store to look for handles and knobs for the new and improved kitchen. But mostly we went to look at the seeds and gardening fun. Ry's favorite was a fountain that had a huge lion on top with water cascading out of it's mouth. GK preferred a serape wearing garden gnome taking a nap while resting up against a cactus. My vote was for the gawd awful pink flamingos.......that match the ones we already have up in the front yard. tee hee.

Saturday we put up our wind spinner flowers of many colors and the "Guard flamingos" on each side of the front gate. The man across the way, who is a man of very little real funny bones" just shook his head and went back inside his neatly manicured front entry. Poor dear....he just doesn't get us, but then only the discerning do.

Anyway back to seed shopping. This year we're only growing okra and carrots and baby bottle gourds in the back yard. In years past we have planted all sorts of things and well to be honest with all of you, we either had too many of some things and none of the ones we really wanted. I think it is cheaper in the long run to go to the farmer's market and help our local economy rather than having a bazillion real live things that we don't eat. Now if I could have an instant white peach tree.....yum, we do that puppy in a minute....or strawberries that the turtles don't ravage before we get to them....cool. But sports fans there are no instant trees and the berries are always ready for the marauding turdly durds, no matter where we plant them.

We also will start a new bunch of containers of herbs in the front yard. We have a very small section of soil right up against the front wall of the house about 12" wide which runs the length of the house. The driveway comes right up to it so there isn't much that doesn't outgrow the bed. We are going to fill in the beds with weed barrier and rock and then plant our herbs in pots, planters and raised beds. This will all be done during spring break. I've got the kids convinced this is gonna be so fun...... Shhhhhhhhhh, don't spoil it by telling them it's work. This arrangement will also provide the perfect hiding places for the garden gnomes to take over the front yard. It's a win/win. We're planting dill, fennel, orange mint, oregano, basil, thyme and sage. We will transplant some cuttings of rosemary, french and English lavender as well.

For years now I have had a jungle on the front enclosed patio of epiphytes, South American tree plants. But I am going to be selling or giving these beauties away because we have no room to give them the care they deserve in the winter. They all must come in and it's either the night blooming cereus or using the dining room. All of my epiphytes are at least 8 years old, have spines, have each bloomed and are ready to wage global domination so they must go to new homes. So even the plant life here at Casa de Cuckoo will be shifting into a new paradigm very soon. Change is a good thing.....is my new mantra. Now I just have to resist the urge to buy big green plants to make the front porch look "friendly" during the growing season. Joe volunteered to make big crepe paper flower just so I wouldn't re inhabit the porch with other needful things that have to come in the house. I also was warned about no little fishes for the fountain in front.....the old little fishes live in an aquarium in the living room and are "filet of fish" sandwich size now. I like growing big beautiful things......bottom lip quivers.